Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

There Be Dragons, Harry	By : Scioneeris Category: HP Canon Characters paired with Original Characters > Slash - Male/Male Views: 58493 -:- Recommendations : 9 -:- Currently Reading : 28
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of its characters. I make no money by writing this story..

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
PREVIOUSLY:

Terius moved to sit on the floor beside Harry and his tall, greyed wings stretched out, one curling slightly around Harry to provide a semblance of comfort, while reflecting the heat from the fireplace.

Harry stiffened, for a moment, then slowly leaned towards the older man.

Terius smiled down at him and summoned a bowl of fruit. He picked up an apple and with a flick of his claw, sliced it in sections and offered it to Harry. The green-eyed teen took it with a sad smile.

"Theo!" Harry was off the sofa and barreling towards the Slytherin the moment the trio came through the doors of Severus' personal quarters. He narrowly missed Draco who was scooped out of the way by Severus and greeted by a less enthusiastic Terius. Relief spread through him the moment he was able to comfortably wrap his arms around the taller boy. He didn't want to analyze that, it was too much. For now, it felt good and that was good enough.

"Harry." Theo mumbled into the mouthful of short, messy, hair. He tried to pry Harry off him and then settled for simply standing and waiting until Terius' quiet chuckle drew his eye. "Did I miss something?"

"You weren't here when he woke." Terius winked. "I think he missed you."

"Ah. Right." Theo eased his bookbag to the floor, glad that Harry had at least allowed him to step into the private rooms and not to be stuck outside in the hallway. It didn't look like his lovely mate intended to let him go any time soon. "Harry?" He tried again. "Did you sleep well? Did you eat anything?"

The vise-like grip loosened and brilliant green eyes shimmered up at him. "I-" His stomach rumbled.

Theo perked a brow. "Dinner first." He decided. "and I expect you to eat enough of it—even if I have to spoon-feed it to you!"

Harry blushed and Terius smirked. "Dinner's about done, if those lovely smells are any indication of it." He tilted his head. "Stay for it?"

"I don't see why not." Theo allowed.

Harry reluctantly let himself be pried off and followed the others to the kitchen. He didn't want to think about a logical reason for his sudden clinginess, just to enjoy the fact that Theo was here. This whole inheritance thing was really set on twisting his life up.

"Did you and Terius have a nice chat?" Theo prompted, guiding Harry to the table and selecting their respective seats, once the others were busy in the kitchen.

"He said to ask you about sorting out our stages."

Theo actually blushed. "Really?"

Harry nodded, seriously. "He also said we should talk more and that I'd get some of your magic soon."

"Ah. Of course." Theo paused. "You will, as soon as one particular thing is taken care of. Did you wash up already?"

"Yeah."

"Just a minute, then."

"Your cooking is improving." Draco commented, happily shoveling his stew into his mouth.

Terius snickered into his mug. "I did not make that, Draco." He said, smoothly. "But I am glad you are enjoying it."

Silver eyes narrowed at once and the spoon was lowered, cautiously, slowly. "Who did?"

Harry swallowed.

Terius merely smiled. "It's perfectly harmless. I would not give it to you otherwise."

Severus muttered something from his corner of the table, but gave Draco a look when it seemed like the blond wouldn't eat any more. His dark gaze flickered towards Harry for a moment and he gave a stiff nod.

Harry didn't know what to make of that.

"Long day?" Terius inquired. "Or bad students?"

"Bad students." Severus muttered. "Incompetent dunderheaded-!"

"Drink your coffee." Terius interrupted, a warning gleam in his blue-grey eyes. The men exchanged a look and after a moment, an awkward silence settled over the table, broken only by the sounds of silverware on china.

"I ah, brought your homework along with mine, Harry." Theo ventured, after several long minutes.

"Thanks." Harry smiled. "I hope you remembered notes too."

"Plenty." Theo chuckled. "And a Ravenclaw noticed you were missing—she offered hers as well."

Harry stiffened. "Was her name Cho Chang, by any chance?"

Theo shook his head. "Loony Lovegood." His face colored. "I meant-"

"Luna." Harry corrected with a glare. "And she's no more loony than you are. Don't call her that again!"

Draco's eyes grew wide for a moment and the three other figures stared at the green-eyed boy.

Harry shifted uncomfortably for a moment and then snuck a glance upward. "What?"

"Do you fancy her?" Draco exclaimed, seemingly horrified.

"What?" Harry dropped his spoon—in the bowl of stew, thankfully. "I didn't—what—Malfoy!"

"That's a rather fierce defense of someone not in your circle." Terius said, carefully. "And it is Snape now, actually. But he still answers to Mr. Malfoy as your dear Headmaster had some issue with our relationship being common knowledge."

"Public knowledge." Severus corrected with a scowl. "There is a difference between public and common knowledge and I agree with him on that point. This whole—thing—is dangerous in-"

"And yet, nothing has happened to prove that." Terius said, quietly. "You simply cannot take my word that nothing will happen, can you? I will not allow it."

"You allow far too much-!" Severus snapped. Draco looked worriedly between the two, opening his mouth to interrupt when both men turned to frown at him. "Eat your dinner, Draco." The Potions Master snapped, he stood, abruptly from his chair and stalked from the room.

Draco wearily picked up his spoon and watched the retreating figure. He turned accusing eyes towards a sighing Terius. "Did you have to start that now?" He demanded. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to calm him down from this morning?"

Terius rose from the table and flicked a hand at the unfinished dinners, banishing them with a flicker. He didn't say a word.

"You'd better be leaving to apologize!" Draco said, heatedly. "He didn't do anything to-" The words died in his mouth when those piercing, blue-grey eyes deliberately locked onto him. After a moment, he broke the stare and began to focus on his food, mechanically filling his mouth with stiff movements.

Terius silently exited the dining room.

Harry stared after him in shock and then to Draco. Somehow, he'd thought dinner might be a happy affair, at least for a mated circle. But a rather sad look had fixed itself to the blond's face and he was still eating his dinner as if on autopilot. Feeling Theo's eyes settle on him, Harry quickly picked up his spoon and began to eat. There was no way he'd allow himself to be spoonfed in front of Malf-Snape, of all people!

"Did you get enough sleep?" Theo inquired, after a moment. "I think I asked before, but I didn't quite hear your answer and I was hoping that you'd have-"

Draco perked up. "How long's yours?"

"What?" Harry said, eloquently.

"Your realignment cycle." Theo filled in. "Didn't you and Terius cover that? You wanted to know why you were sleeping everywhere all the time when you were fine. It's because of that. Didn't you two talk about it?"

"Er…no."

Theo gave a dramatic roll of his lovely honey-gold eyes. "Why ever not? Pray tell, what exactly did you two discuss?"

"Stuff?" Harry suggested. His gaze flickered towards Draco. He hadn't felt comfortable discussing his possible vulnerability with Terius—no matter how kind or understanding the older man was—it just hadn't felt right. But now, as he looked at Draco, he could feel a flicker of sudden kinship. Draco was a sub just like him. Sort of. Surely he could answer this question. He opened his mouth to speak and then shut it abruptly. Even though they hadn't been insulting each other for this year, the history between them kept him from speaking up just yet.

Draco snickered. Theo glared at him and the blond immediately straightened up. "It was just a joke." He said, defensively.

Theo blinked. "I didn't mean any-"

"Mine happens to be every three days." Draco wrinkled his nose. "It's a bloody pain-in-the-arse!"

"Language, Draco!" Terius' voice filtered in from somewhere.

Draco stuck his tongue out in retaliation.

"Draco!" Severus growled.

The blond rolled his eyes. "So, spill, Potter—what's yours?"

"Nott." Theo corrected. "At least, I think." He frowned. "We'll sort it later, I suppose." He looked inquisitively at Harry. "The choice is yours."

"Choice?"

"We subs." Draco gave a tilt of his head, gesturing between Harry and himself. "Are allowed to choose the circle name. We can either keep our own or take on that of the alpha." He shrugged. "Father all but legally disowned me and Mother didn't really care, so the Malfoy name's nothing right now. I took Snape's because." The blond shrugged, then froze in mid-motion as if he realized the action wasn't dignified enough. "I still use Malfoy, because it is expected, but legally, I am Draco Snape." A rare smile stole over his features, softening the look of the Slytherin Ice Prince. "Feels nice not to be a Malfoy, even if only in secret."

Harry found himself agreeing. It sounded rather tempting to be a Nott rather than a Potter, but he'd have to think about it—really think about it. He frowned. "Wait, what did you mean, every three days?"

"Realignment cycles are what subs go through to ground their circles." Theo explained, with a glance towards Draco, who nodded in affirmation. "For every sub, it is a bit different. Usually, it is a draining of your energies to the point where you're so physically exhausted, you need to rest." Understanding dawned as Harry dropped his spoon again, gaping at the two Slytherins. "It also has to do with the fact that Dragel magic is unpredictable and very volatile, we are all but dragons, after all. To control the energies and the sheer volume of it all, the sub acts a bit like a valve." Theo frowned. "I guess that's the easiest way I can explain it, Draco?"

"More like a storage vault." Draco suggested. "For me, Terius has even more magic than Severus and he's has quite a bit." The blond finished up his stew and began to toy with his buttered rolls. "During a realignment, a circle…sleeps together. Our magical cores realign and rework themselves, then they sort of reset." He nibbled on one crusty edge. "You wake up energized and ready to take on You-Know-Who himself."

Harry rolled his eyes at the nickname, but let it go, he wanted to know more about this. Theo nudged his foot under the table and Harry shot him a look, but obediently picked up a roll and followed Draco's nibbling example. "And you couldn't tell me this before, because?" Harry growled.

"It wasn't my place." Theo said, simply. "Besides, would you have even listened?"

Harry thought about it for a moment. He wasn't sure.

"Save it for later." Draco murmured. "As I was saying, as your cycle comes to an end, the only thing you want to do is sleep, but it won't be peaceful or restful unless your mates are around you. How much you have to sleep, depends on the cycle itself. There is some formula to it, at least in the beginning, after that, it takes a while and depends on your mates. I usually just to sleep for about…" Draco did the calculations in his head. "A day or so? At least twenty. I usually can't count it. I just need to sleep and I do. Terius and Severus come and when I wake, they wake." He yawned. "I try not to think of it much. Terius, do you know?"

"Twenty-four!" Both men chorused back.

Draco smirked.

Theo perked a brow.

"They're apologizing." Draco stage-whispered. Two identical snorts came from the direction of the sitting room. "Bonding over grading homework." He explained, in a quieter tone. "So, spill already! What's yours?"

Harry had stopped nibbling and was now looking rather pale. It explained more than he'd expected and now, he was starting to feel the first inklings of panic. From the eager look on Draco's face, he had a feeling that this bit of information was supposed to be very, very important. "I-I don't know!"

Theo's nearest arm immediately draped itself around Harry's shoulders. "That's fine, Harry. Calm down. It isn't a big deal if you don't know. I'm sure we can reason it out."

"I slept for weeks!" Harry burst out, the calming arm doing very little in terms of calming him. "I slept the whole week or two after my birthday. I don't remember." He twisted his hands, anxiously. "Then when I came here, the whole first week-"

"I remember that." Draco mused. "You tripped right into me. Severus was furious, treated me like glass for the rest of the day." Another snort came from the sitting room.

"I didn't trip on purpose!" Harry shot back, his eyes flashing angrily. "Someone else did and I-"

"Harry…"

"A whole week. But I couldn't sleep, there were classes. I had to keep taking-"

"Harry."

"Then this week—I!" Harry gulped. "How long was I out?" He jerked away from Theo's arm and turned on the boy. "How long did I sleep?"

"Harry, please calm down." Worry began to show in Theo's normally set face.

"He won't calm down." Draco said, matter-of-factly. "I did the same until Terius counted it up. You just have to count how much sleep you've gotten and see the ratio between it and how long you manage to go without falling asleep on your feet."

"Draco gave quite the headache too until we figured it out." Terius' head popped 'round the corner. He took one look at the distraught teen and frowned in disapproval. "Harry, calm down." He said, firmly. "This is not something to get confused over. It is very simple to calculate and I'd be happy to help you figure it out. Draco, if you've finished, you may leave the table and join us for tea. Harry, Theo, you are welcome to stay for that as well."

"Tea sounds wonderful." Theo slipped out of his chair and coaxed Harry to do the same. He frowned up at the elder Dragel still hovering in the doorway. "Is there any way to…?"

"I can see." Terius offered. "Would you like me to calm him?"

"Ah…no." Theo managed a small smile. "I can do that, but thank you." He slipped a hand down the collar of Harry's shirt with the intent of using the calming property of the claiming mark.

Harry immediately jerked away from him, accusingly. "Don't do that without my permission! I can't calm down! I don't want to calm down! How can you expect me to calmly handle this?" He snapped. "My whole life is a huge-!"

With a slight twitch, Terius stepped into the room, with his wings unfolding to immediately wrap Harry within, drawing the younger man towards him. Their voices were muffled and only when Draco was on his feet with an audible growl in their direction, did Terius finally shift his wings to allow better visibility. His hand was on Harry's shoulder and Harry was standing with his back to the doorway, his head bowed, his hands clenched at his sides.

They settled in the sitting room, Draco cuddled up on Terius' lap, with the occasional frown in Harry's direction as if he couldn't understand or process something that remained unsaid. Severus sat in his favorite armchair by the fireplace and served the tea without complaint and a steady hand. There was a thick pile of parchment on the small end table near the chair and a quill accompanied by a pot of red ink. From the copious slashes of red on the top essay, it could easily explain the still present scowl on the tall man's current mood. He was grading and still had quite a pile to finish.

Theo allowed Harry to pick a seat—which happened to be on the rug in front of the fireplace—and opted to sit on the sofa when Harry hissed in warning. Draco and Terius observed with some amusement, Severus with annoyance.

"It is not his fault that he cannot answer every single question you dream up, Potter." Severus scowled. "Some of these things must happen in their natural way."

"What Severus means, Harry, is that there are some things I cannot tell you and others that Theo can't." Terius supplied. "And Severus, he answers better to Harry." Severus glowered at him. Terius grinned. "Perhaps you should try some tea, Harry." He changed the subject.

Severus' scowl softened and he waved a hand towards the tea service, floating Terius' cup over to the matching end table beside his armchair. Draco already had his, fingers curled tightly around the warmed cup. The man inclined his head in appreciation, accepting the floated cup.

Harry scowled, ignoring his own cup and saucer beside him on the floor. A slight puff of sweet scent filtered by him and after a long moment, Harry reluctantly picked up the cup and saucer, settling cross-legged on the floor. It didn't take long for him to try a sip and the happy flavors exploded on his tongue. Several moments later, he felt the earlier anger ebbing away. He opened his mouth and shut it a few times, then looked to a content and slightly sleepy Draco cuddled on Terius' lap.

Suddenly, that position seemed rather nice. He pouted when his mind connected the dots that he could cuddle if he wanted to, but that Theo was across the room, slightly, and on the sofa. He licked his lips, lost in thought for a moment and drawn back to the present by Severus' rich voice.

"If you are through with your little panic attack, I wish to inform you that I will not tolerate any future interruptions in my classroom merely because you feel the need to share your newfound tricks."

Harry blinked at him in confusion. He was sure there was an insult in there. Somewhere. Maybe. He couldn't be definitely sure.

"He wasn't aware of it, Professor." Theo said, politely.

"Aware?"

"I gave him the encyclopedia to read a few days ago, but he didn't mean anything by in class on Monday. He didn't know."

"Which is why my warning is meant for future interruptions, Mr. Nott."

Terius rolled his eyes. "Harry, do you remember what happened on Monday?"

The black-haired teen stared at him for a long moment, sorting through the sudden, new mental fog. "No." He said slowly. "Head hurt. Noise. Applesauce." He shuddered. "Hate applesauce."

"You fainted in Potions." Theo prompted. "After you released your voice for the first time—a very dangerous thing to do in a room full of unprotected young witches and wizards—don't do it again." He frowned. "You didn't want to wake up that morning either and you slept through the whole weekend. I stayed with you and ended up sleeping the entire time as well, but I set an alarm for classes on Monday and woke you accordingly. I didn't realize it was your realignment rest."

"My voice?" Harry asked, faintly.

"Dragels have access to different branches of music." Terius explained. "Blood magic, for one. Musical manipulation for another." He sighed. "So you was sleeping for at least three days?" Terius confirmed.

"Two." Theo offered. "Saturday and Sunday, from dinner on Friday onto that. I think I woke him a few times and we ate fruit for dinner at one point and well…" He shifted uncomfortably. "I woke him to finalize the claiming. So he didn't really have a straight sleep."

"Then an entire day in the hospital wing." Severus supplied. "Poppy wouldn't leave me alone about dangerous fumes in the classroom." He snorted. "As if anyone else had the urge to simply faint!"

"Mid-way class or at the end?" Terius asked.

"Before the brewing even started!" Severus snapped. "Albus had the same lecture to share."

"How kind of him." Terius snorted. "So he was out for a night and then, what, a day?"

"Yes, a whole day before he woke and then-" Theo looked away.

"Then?" Terius prompted.

Harry pouted. "Then we had a fight." He said, dramatically, his eyes opening wide and he nodded his head in long wide strokes for emphasis. "but we made up." He grinned, sloppily. "I said sorry." The green eyes blinked innocently. "You accepted, Theo. Right?" He leaned forward, the teacup forgotten. "Right? That was fun!"

Terius sighed. "Severus, didn't I tell you to use the same one that we give Draco?"

"I did!" The black-eyed man glowered at him. "It is the exact same calming draught I have mixed for the past two and half months. I do not know why he's acting like an imbecilic-" He frowned. "Then again, it is Harry Potter, why would this be any different than usual? Potter, have you been taking any other potions?"

"Wha?" Harry managed, intelligently.

The Potions Master muttered a few choice words and then turned to Theo. "Mr. Nott, have you noticed him taking anything? Speak quickly!"

"Pepper-up." Theo recited. "and an energy replenisher, once or twice. I couldn't see which level, just a really pale blue one time and a really pale green another."

"When?" Severus asked, sharply.

"First week of school and I think a Pepper-up on Thursday."

"You think?" Severus said, icily. "You are not certain? Have I not taught you better than that, Mr. Nott?"

"Yes, sir." Came the prompt reply.

"Think again!"

"I did not really see him last Friday, sir. I had to take care of some business with the family solicitor." Theo frowned. "I was going to meet him later though, that same afternoon when we ran into each other. I was going to lend him my book in exchange for chocolate frogs."

"How generous. Those should not really affect him, unless he has been taking them for an extended period of time, which would mean he needed access to such potions regardless of time or place." Severus frowned. "Continue, Mr. Nott."

"I ran into him in the hallways earlier, it seemed like the youngest Mr. Weasley didn't approve of our talking between classes. He upset Harry."

"Mr. Weasley leaves a great deal to be desired lately." Severus mused. "Terius?"

"I'd say that's roughly about four and a half days at the moment. What else am I missing?"

"We argued on Wednesday morning and it bothered him, so he woke at dinnertime to apologize. I suggested meeting with you and he fell asleep and I brought him over here this afternoon."

"Nearly five days." Terius murmured. "Approximately. So he slept through the entirety of Thursday as well. I cannot be entirely sure, but four solid days of sleep, at least, then all the snatched afternoons and mornings, it would almost make up a week. Almost." He frowned. "Impressive, Harry."

"Really?" Harry beamed.

Severus winced.

"I thought this was a calming draught?" Theo inquired. "Not a cheering potion."

"Severus' idea." Terius supplied. "And it is a calming draught. It shouldn't be having this effect on him though. It's been modified for Draco, meaning it shouldn't affect him in this way. It should have just dimmed his emotions for a bit."

"Dim?" Harry's brilliant green eyes watered. "I'm not dim!" He wailed. "Theo!"

Draco stirred in Terius' arms and he sniffed the air for a moment, then shifted, sliding off the warm lap and easing himself down to the floor where he crawled over to sit by Harry and leaned into the boy's side, strands of blond hair mixing with short tufts of black. "S'okay." He slurred, sleepily. "They's always like that. You tired?"

Harry blinked owlishly at him. "Ye-ah!" He gave a half-hearted cheer.

"Good. Me too." Draco yawned, widely. "Think my rest is…starting." He yawned again, then turned, imploringly to Terius. "Tired!" He said, by way of explanation.

"Bedtime, then." Terius murmured, shifting from the chair to stand on his feet. "My room." He said, when Severus fluidly moved to his feet. "Don't get any ideas." Severus didn't answer, but he took the tea tray towards the kitchen and paused to open the door on one of the bedrooms.

"You're welcome to stay, Theo." Terius bent down to scoop up Draco into his arms. "I'd suggest taking a good hold on Harry. I'll puzzle through it and get an answer for tomorrow."

Theo hesitated. "Right. Thank you." He frowned, thinking of how to get Harry into the Slytherin dorms for the night and up to the Head Boy rooms. Blaise would no doubt be up there and he didn't really want an audience for what he had a feeling he'd have to do.

"Stay." Severus snapped. "Don't think so hard that it's that obvious."

Theo ducked his head. "I wouldn't want to impose."

"How considerate, seeing as you already have!" Severus retorted. "You know where the guest room is. Goodnight, Mr. Nott."

"Enough, Sev." Terius yawned. "It's catching. We've got about five minutes, give or take." He turned weary eyes to Theo. "You cannot let him continue in this vein much longer."

"I know." Theo bent to pick up Harry, hefting him easily in his arms. "I will take care of-"

"I—we—understand." Terius murmured. "Do what you must, before this situation goes out of hand. It will do him more harm than good if you-"

"Thank you." Theo interrupted. "Goodnight, Teacher, Professor."
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There Be Dragons, Harry